In the 1920s, the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants (服务生) to look after the passengers. Young men, or “stewards” helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers' bags but they did not provide food and drinks. But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the “stewardess”.

    Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn't want to work on a farm or marry a farmer. She wanted a more adventurous (冒险的) life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital and at the same time took flying lessons and got her pilot's license.

    Ellen was 25 years old when she first got in touch with BAT (Boeing Air Transport). She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man's world. Though women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot. But she had another idea. Most people were afraid of flying because flying was still not a very safe way to travel. There were often delays (延误), many crashes and the bad weather made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and BAT agreed.

    The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.

    At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early “stewardesses” had to be under twenty-five-year-old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was a hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and was paid $1 an hour.

    In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, “stewardesses” have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.

Astronauts would face dangers both getting to and surviving (生存) on Mars. Let's learn about surviving a trip to Mars.

What would it take to keep people safe and healthy on a trip to Mars? Scientists are already working on it, though the trip may be many years later.

Over the last 60 years, many spaceships have flown by orbited（沿轨道运行）and even landed on the Red Planet. However, machines cannot replace humans. That's why the United States, China and other countries want to send people to Mars. But surviving on this trip would not be easy.

A trip to Mars would be the farthest journey in human(人类) history. Mars is about 225 million kilometers away, so it would take astronauts at least 180 days to reach there. However, it only takes a few days to get to the Moon.

Space travel is dangerous. For one thing, staying in space for long periods makes the human body weak. Also, it puts pressure behind the eyes and causes eye problems. But gravity(重力) machines could help.

Then there's space radiation(辐射) to worry about. It is bad for astronauts when they have long journeys. Scientists are working out the issue. They have found that taking certain vitamins can help.

Astronauts will have to pack light to lift off from the earth. But they won't be able to get the things they need easily. Astronauts on the space station practice for this by growing lettuce and other food in space. Engineers are developing 3D printing techniques（技术）which can allow future Mars astronauts to build what they want.

Kanu and Timo are brothers. They like playing soccer very much. They often play it with their friends after school.

One day, Mom asks them to buy some eggs so she can make （做） dinner for the family. When the brothers make their way to the store, they see （看到） some of their friends playing soccer on a field （运动场）.

"Let's play soccer for a short time （一会儿） first, and then go to the store," Kanu says to Timo.

Timoagrees. Then the brothers go to the field and play with their friends. They have a lot of fun and lose track of time （忘记时间）. "Oh, no, we have to buy eggs now."

Kanu and Timo run to the store, buy some eggs and go home quickly （迅速地）. "Sorry, Mom. We are late," the brothers say. "We play soccer and lose track of time."

"Boys, it's OK, But next time, do important work （重要的工作） before （在……之前） playing, OK?" Mom says.

I love you, so I let you go

There was once a lonely girl. She wanted to get love very much. One day when she was walking in the woods, she {#blank#}1{#/blank#} two hungry birds. She took them home and put them in a small cage (笼子). She looked {#blank#}2{#/blank#} them with love and the birds grew strong. Every day they sang sweet songs for her. The girl felt great love for the birds.

One day the girl forgot {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the door to the cage. One bird flew from the cage. The girl was{#blank#}4{#/blank#} afraid that it would fly away. As it flew close, she caught it wildly. She was very happy.

Suddenly, she felt {#blank#}5{#/blank#} strange (奇怪的) with the bird. She opened her hand and looked surprisingly at the dead bird. Her {#blank#}6{#/blank#} killed it.

She noticed the other bird moving quickly in the cage. She could feel {#blank#}7{#/blank#} need for freedom. She guided (指引) the bird to fly into the air. She wanted the bird to be happy.

The bird flew around once, {#blank#}8{#/blank#}, three times. Finally, it flew closer and landed in her hand. It sang and sang. The music sounded the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} in the world. Then the girl realized {#blank#}10{#/blank#} important thing-- We should let go for love.

Have a look at the picture. There is a fairytale (童话) treehouse in it. Radamshome, a lovely dad, built it for his daughter. It is really beautiful, isn't it?

Radamshome is an artist (艺术家). His job is to make video games. One day, his daughter said that she dreamed (梦想) to have a fairy tree in her bedroom that she could sit and read books inside. So Radamshome decided to build a fairytale treehouse for his daughter. 

Radamshome said that he began with an idea, and then drew a picture. Next, he made a scale model (比例模型). He prepared (准备) all the things he needed. He first built a tree with steel and cement (钢筋和水泥). Then he painted the tree in beautiful colors. He even decorated (装饰) the tree with flowers, birds nests, butterflies and some Christmas lights. The treehouse looks very beautiful and special when the lights are on at night. There are also some animal toys near the tree. 

Radamshome spent eighteen months finishing this treehouse. He feels very happy when he sees his daughter reading books inside the fairy treehouse.

Hello, everyone. My name is John White. I'm a middle school student. I like soccer very much（非常）. I play soccer after school every day. My father likes it, too. He plays soccer very well. I like playing soccer with my father very much. We have five soccer balls. But my mother and my sister don't like soccer. So they don't play soccer. They only watch TV at home. They think watching TV is very interesting.